


The Life of a Girl named Arya Stark of Winterfell (Slight AU)

by GoSora



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gendrya - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-02-26 13:07:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18717691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoSora/pseuds/GoSora
Summary: This is written while season 8 is coming out and is basically the life of Arya, told from her point of view. What made her who she is and what went through her mind as things around her changed.Every chapter past the episode 8.2 will be marked with a spoiler warning just in case.I have chosen to put this under Mature because of the violence the show is known for. It is probably perfectly kid safe, but better safe than sorry.





	1. Arya Stark of Winterfell (8.2)

It was the eve before the battle of Winterfell. She was laying awake, covered in a cloak in deep thought, thinking back at the last few years. 

Years ago they had been happy, right? They had all been together. Her mother, her father, her brothers and Sansa. Even if she had been pissing off the perfect Sansa at any opportunity she had gotten, they had been happy.

But that had all changed when Robert Baratheon had arrived and they had been split up. She had travelled with her father and sister to the south while John had gone for the wall. They should have stuck together... Next thing they knew their father, the Lord of Winterfell was executed for treason and she was travelling for the wall disguised as a boy.

She had meet two boys on the road. Hot Pie, a sweet kid, but he clever he was not... Him and Gendry. She liked Gendry. He had defended her more than once and on the road he had somehow become the closest she had to family. She didn't care if he was just a Blacksmith because she had never really cared that much about social status. 

She had been scared when she had first started the journey. Scared that people would find out who she was and she had still been trying to get to terms with her fathers death. Joffrey was gonna pay for what he had done, and he had paid in the end. Not nearly enough, but he had died so that had to make do. 

But she had been spooked on the road. By the Gold Cloaks. They wanted someone and she thought it was her. But then Gendry had told her that her father had questioned him and she told him who she was. He had acted like a fool for pissing in front of her and called her m'lady and she had been so pissed that she had shuffled him to the ground.

She did notice that he had been trying to keep her out of harms way since, but they were still on the road so there wasn't much they could do about that. 

The Gold Cloaks came back and this time she had lied to save Gendry's life. She had already lost her father and her sister was with the Lannister's so she wasn't safe either, so she had done this to safe the one person she trusted.

After that things had gotten worse. Harrenhal and Tywin Lannister. Enough said. It had been bad, but they had gotten away. She had gotten Jaqen H'ghar to get Hot Pie, Gendry and herself out of there. And that was when she had learned the phrase: Vala Morghulis. That and she had gotten a silver coin from Braavos and was told to show the coin to any man from Braavos and say those words if she wanted to find him again.

At this point she had her list and was repeating it till she fell asleep. Her kill list. It had probably not really helped in the long run, but it had made her able to sleep, so she didn't regret making it. 

Then came a small turning point. They were with the Brotherhood without Banners at this point. She was their captive and he was free to go. But Gendry decided to stay with The brotherhood and not follow her. She had nearly begged him to come with her, but somewhere deep down she knew he was right. He was a blacksmith and she was a lady. But that didn't make it hurt any less.

And then he had been sold off to some witch the next day before they had a chance to talk it over. She couldn't do anything and with this whole deal she had dropped all of her past believes and switched to believing in one God: Death.

She had run from the Brotherhood after that and had been caught by The Hound. Travelling with him they first tried to go to her uncles wedding, but then the Frey and Bolton men started to kill her family and the Stark soldiers. Her mother and brother had been brutally murdered and she had been knocked out by The Hound before she had been able to run inside and get herself killed. But she had seen her brothers dead body with Grey Wind's head sewn on top.

After that she had changed. She had been happy before but now she was numb. She didn't feel and she didn't care. She had been hurt to much to let that happen again. Caring only lead to suffering, so she just turned it all off and became ruthless and detached, driven by her thoughts of revenge and by killing every last person on her list. 

She had killed her second person and first man after that. He had talked about killing her mother and sewing the wolf head on her brothers body. She didn't regret this, not for a single second. 

After that they slowly make their way to the Eyrie where The Hound planed to place her in the care of her aunt Lysa Arryn. Along the way she manages to cross the first person off her list, Polliver. She killed him in the same way that he had killed her friend earlier, making that kill satisfying. That and she got her sword Needle back.

They arrive at the Eyrie and this is the last time she remember laughing, like really laughing... Her aunt had died three days before they arrived, meaning that the Hounds plans was messed up, yet again. Nothing seem to be going their way, except the fact that people on her list kept on dying or crossing her path. 

She remembered meeting Brienne and Podrick. And she remembered Brienne beating The Hound while she was hiding. Then she had went down to see him one last time. She had robbed him and then left him to die, because he was not worth killing.

And then her life had changed again. She had travelled to Braavos and had found the house black and white. 

Here she had learned to control her emotions, how to lie and how to read people and spot a lie. That and how to be No One. But this hadn't been an easy journey. She had crossed a name of her list, Meryn Trant, and had lost her eyesight as a punishment for this.

Looking back this had been great training. She didn't need to see someone to be able to kill them, but it had been draining and beyond hard at the time. 

She had her sight restored later and was given a second chance, but had messed that up as well and nearly gotten killed for this. But she had survived and had finally been ready to become Arya Stark of Winterfell again. 

She had returned to Westeros and had killed all male heirs of the house of Frey using what she had learned in Braavos. The hardest part of this had been carving up Walder Frey's sons Lothar and Black Walder so she could cook them in the pie she served to their father before she slid his throat.

She had then travelled south, intending to kill Cersei, but her plans had changed when she learned that John had become King in the North. 

At Winterfell she is reunited with Sansa in the crypts below the castle. John was apparently gone for the time being so she just talked to her sister for a while. It was clear from the talk that they had both been to hell and back since they last saw each other. But they had both survived non the less. 

Reuniting with Bran brought up her list of names for a second time and this time it seemed like Sansa finally believed that her list existed. 

Proving how strong she had become had been fairly simple. She had asked Brienne for a sparring match and had gotten one. Knowing her sister was watching she showed what she had learned since they last saw each other.

Conflict followed, but then they started to act like a family and work as a unit. Sansa was the politician and she was the fighter. That was what they were the best at and they might as well use their skills, while working together to keep the north safe. 

And then John and Daenerys came back to Winterfell. She had gone out to Winter Town like the day so many years ago to see everyone arrive. After her brother had passed her she recognized someone else... The Hound. That old Fucker was still alive? And then she had seen someone she never thought she would see again, Gendry. Seeing him made her smile just a little bit. She knew she would have to go talk to him later, if only to get him to make her a new weapon.

And then the two dragons had been flying over them all and she couldn't hide her excitement, even if everyone else seemed terrified. 

 

Meeting John after all those years had been good. She had missed him, but as much as she had missed him things were different. John was following their new queen and she was following her sister. But that didn't change the fact that she loved him so they hugged and talked a little, before they went to work. He was still a good brother, even if he was blinded by love. 

She went down to the forges and spotted The Hound being his grumpy old self, commenting on the axe that Gendry had made him. She told him to cut it out, before she was called “A cold little bitch”. She had been cold in that moment, but once he was gone it changed. 

Her defences had cracked while she had been talking to Gendry and she had no idea how or why. She managed to ask him to make her special weapon, a double bladed staff that could be broken into two smaller weapons. He agreed and they had spoken just a little more before she had walked away, spinning around one last time before she was gone. 

Later she had returned to ask about the weapon. He wasn't done so she asked about what to expect when fighting the Wight. His answer was to vague for her so she had asked further and had gotten the answer. They were like Death. 

He was terrified, she could tell that much. But she was exited, because she knew death. So she might have showed off a little, throwing three dragon glass daggers into a tight formation behind him. That did the trick and he promised that he would work on her weapon right before she disappeared again. 

She had been at a planing meeting after that and then she had been thinking about a few things. Her life, the war, her status as a virgin and a few other things. And then she made a decision about changing one of those things. She liked Gendry and he had not been good at concealing his feelings for her. She just had to find him before the battle started and get that over with. 

She did take a small turn on the wall before she did anything else. Here she meet non other than The Hound. He was as grumpy as ever, complaining like usual. And then they were joined by Ser Beric and that was when she had enough. She left the sad old men alone while she went to practice a little before she would go look for her unknowing victim. 

She had no idea if it was her luck or something else but Gendry had come soon after. He had her weapon and they started to talk as she tested it out. She knew what she had to do, but had some questions before she just jumped him.

She asked in to what the red woman wanted with him and was surprised when he told her that he was Robert Baratheon's bastard. She had not seen that one coming. She had then made him flustered, asking him about how many girls he had been with. It took her a little more effort to get him to tell her the the number of girls, three. 

With that out of the way she slowly made her way over to him stating that they might die soon and that she wanted to know what it felt like. Seeing the conflict in his eyes and hearing him whispering her name she had had reached up and kissed him and that was all it took. 

He had followed her lead and she had made sure she was in control the entire time. She even had to remind him to remove his own bloody pants. She had sort of expected the physical aspect of it, but not his smile and the way he looked at her. The adoration in his eyes and the worry when he had seen her scars. She should have seen it, she should have prepared for it, but she hadn't. And she should have prepared for her own feelings to play up. But she hadn't been ready. And this had resulted in her just laying awake, thinking, while she should be sleeping. This could be her last night and she was awake and thinking about feelings. Feelings she shouldn't even have yet here they were. She had one more person she could loose in this battle. Gendry. Shit.


	2. She was a King slayer but not a Lady (8.3+8.4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically staying as close to canon on the first half of this that covers episode 8.3 and then going a but AU on the second part (8.4) because well, Gendrya and all. 
> 
> BTW there is a corespondent Gendry story that I'm writing as well.

Hearing the battle horn she had gotten up. Getting dressed fast. She wanted to tell Gendry not to die, but she didn't, she just looked at him and let him fuzz over her for a second before he got his hammer and she got her weapons. They headed out, her to the wall and him to the battlefield. Deep breaths, she got this.

The last preparations were made. The unsullied got into place and the dragons, with Daenerys and John flew over their heads, getting into position. She was standing with Sansa as they waited. She knew that this could be it. But she was ready, or so she thought. 

Then the Dothraki lid up. Their swords igniting, first one and then it spread like a wave over the rest. This light somehow managed to give her a little hope. She then spotted a single rider coming to the castle. When the rider came closer she saw her face. Melisandre. The Red Witch who had taken Gendry years ago. Had striped him naked and put leeches all over him. She had been on her list for a while, but not anymore. But that didn't mean she trusted her. 

The Witch was let in by Ser Davos and then the Dothraki started the fight. It had looked impressive when they road out, but then they were meet by a wave or so it seemed. And then the last sword was extinct. It had only taken seconds. 

She had a pretty good view from the wall so she saw the wave of Wight hit their men. The unsullied stood strong but she could tell that it was bad fast. And then the dragons got into the air, to early. The didn't follow the plan and she had no idea if it had been John or Daenerys who had started this, but fire started to rain down on the Wight while their troops started to fall back. 

She turned to Sansa and looked at her before she told her to get to the crypt. Sansa had hesitated and then she found a small dragon glass dagger, made for her, and gave it to her sister. She looked at it and said she didn't know how to use it. 

“Stick 'em with the pointy end,” she had said and a memory of when she had gotten Needle flashed before her eyes. Sansa had gotten the jest and had then rushed below while she had taken her bow and the arrows at her station. 

Shooting Wight that tried to come to close she didn't miss a single one. She even managed to get one before it reached the most miserable of the old shits she knew, Clegane. But they were in trouble, the trench needed to get ignited and the dragons couldn't see it. But then Melisandre had stepped out again and had gotten the fire started with her magic. 

Archers were now replaced by warriors and she had the weapon she had just gotten from Gendry ready. Staying hight on the wall with Davos she saw the rest prepare inside the courtyard. The wait was short before the Wight discovered how to get over that defence and she grabbed her staff, ready for what was to come. She waited on her part of the wall, looking out, ready to jump and then they came. She spun, stabbed, jabbed and slashed them as they came, focusing on the fight and on killing as much as she could.

It was hard to see anything, mainly because it was night and they only had moonlight and fire as the light sources. But it had gotten harder after the fire had spread, because that meant smoke and a lot of it. But there was so many death so hitting them was not that big of a problem. 

She was still clear when she looked at Davos and made her way down. She did have to roll over some Wight and that resulted in her hitting her right temple, but she was still okay. 

And then she got hit and her head smacked into the wall and she was out. Disoriented was the right word. She had tried to run, tried to find some cover and ended up on a small part of the roof before she crawled into the castle. 

Being inside meant she couldn't make a single sound. She ended up in the library and then she saw them. Shit, shit, shit. They were everywhere and she just needed a second where she could just breath and not die. But she couldn't get that. Couldn't get a single second. She tried to breath as silently as she could as she made her way around, trying not to get spotted. 

She was so close to be seen and then she dived under a table. But her wound on her temple was bleeding and it dripped. She held her breath as a Wight approached. She escaped in the last second an needed to find a way out, desperately. So she grabbed a book and threw it to get the attention of the Wight. It worked and she tried to get out. She was nearly at the door when she saw one Wight. Stabbing in under its chin she slowly laid it down. She then managed to get out of the door and get one second before they were coming after her. 

There was so many and she was tired and her mind was a mess and all she could do was run. Was she gonna die there? It sure looked like it. They attacked from all sides and she ended up being pressed up against a door when the weight of them all had made the door fall. She was gonna die.

And then a flaming sword hit the Wight that was on top of her and she was saved by non other than the two old miserable shits, Clegane and Beric. She had not been this out of it since the Red wedding. Luckily Clegane pulled her along like that time. She was completely useless as they ran for cover and tried not to get killed. 

She was dragged, pulled and carried by him while Beric tried to keep the Wight off them. They made their way to a larger room where they managed to barricade themselves in. Here she watched as Beric died, after he had acted like a human shield for them. She was still terrified as Melisandre stepped out into the light and caught her attention. 

She said that his purpose was for filed and that was why he had died. The lord of light didn't need him anymore. 

Seeing her started to clear Arya's mind. The words the Witch had said to her when she had taken Gendry came back to her and then Melisandre reminded her of the eyes she was gonna close. Brown eyes, green eyes and blue eyes. 

That was what it took to bring her back. Her breath became steady and her mind focused as the Wight tried to come in. 

“What do we say to the God of Death?”

“Not today,” 

And then she was off. She knew this place like the back of her hand. Knew Winterfell, and she was armed and dangerous as she made her way to the Godswoods where she knew Theon should be with Bran. 

On the way she got a look at what was happening around the castle. She saw men fight and noticed a redhead giant stand on top of a pile of corpses with a hammer wielding blacksmith covering his back. He was still alive. Continuing she saw her brother, John try to make his way through the fight, heading in the same direction as she was. But she was above and had that advantage. Killing whatever came in her way she made her way over and managed to sneak in from behind before Theon sacrificed himself. Knowing she needed to time this right she waited and then. 

Then she jumped in, her Valyrian steel dagger in her left hand, going for the kill. The Night King managed to react just in time and he caught her, wrapping his icy fingers around her neck. His nails dug into her skin, but that didn't stop her. She let the dagger drop from her hand and caught it with her right hand and then she plunged it into his heart. 

Everything slowed down as he started to crack from the wound and he then shattered into a million small pieces. She landed on the ground, calm and collected, before she slowly stood up and turned around to see the same happening to the White Walkers. Then she heard the ice dragon scream and fall and the silence started. Only the fire was heard as the war was won. She had done it, she had defeated death and had killed the Night King. 

As she stood the sun started to rise. Walking over to Bran she leaned up against the tree. She was sore and tired, but she knew the day was young and they had dead to burn. Sighing as John came running she was happy to see he had made it, yet her eyes kept searching for someone else as her brother hugged her.

She spotted his stupid face as he stepped in to the Godswoods for just a few seconds. Gendry. She knew he had spotted her because he looked relieved after that. And then he had turned around and walked back, probably already starting to help clean up. She managed to get out of her brothers arms and let Bran explain what had happened while she slowly made her way to the crypt to get Sansa and the rest out. She was surprised to see the blood, and to hear what had happened but happy that most had survived. 

And then the long day started. They had to get the bodies gathered and get ready for them to be burned. No one really spoke while this was going on, but she saw a few looks being exchanged between lovers and a few hugs between brothers. Everyone had been exhausted but they had worked hard all day and had only sleep for a few hours before getting back to work. She had spotted Gendry as they had worked and a look or two had been exchanged but that was it. They managed to finish on the second day and then the survivors lined up. 

John had spoken some strong and true words and then she had helped starting the fires.

At the feast she didn't feel like she belonged so she left as soon as she got the chance. She would rather practise than have to pretend to be even remotely interested in what was going on. 

This was where she was when Gendry came running. He had to stop sneak up on her like that, because she had nearly shoot him by accident. 

He seemed a little drunk, but nothing to bad, when he had joined her. He had proceeded to kiss her, something she wasn't against, but it had taken her by surprise for some reason. She should have expected it after the night they had shared, right?

But then he started to talk and her heart sank. He was the Lord of Storm's End now and he wanted her as his wife. Did she wanna say yes on the spot? Her heart said yes, but she had been driven by hatred and revenge for so long that her head said no. and she couldn't really ask him to wait for her, that would be cruel. That and she might die. 

So she had let him down, as gently as she could. She knew this would hurt him but she had to do it. She had to make sure he was gonna live. Her stupid Bastard who was now a Lord. She left him and as she did she felt her own heart ache and break a little, but she ignored it. She had to ignore it because she had a job to finish.

She still had a queen to kill and this was what she had in mind when she was at the War council. A plan started to form then and there and she started to look around for her weapons. Finding them all and her bag of faces she tried to avoid Gendry, for both of their sakes. 

It was then John had gathered their family and he had dropped a bomb. He was not their brother, but their cousin and the true heir to the thrown. This sorta made sense, but the fact that Bran said it was true made her believe the story fully. It didn't change the plans she had made but it meant that her brother could be king.

She though about that while she packed the last few things up. She left that same day, spotting Clegane ahead she rode up on his side. She knew his plan and he knew hers. So not many words were spoken. 

That was till another horse joined their party. On it was the most stubborn man in the seven kingdoms. 

“Gendry?” she said and looked at him. He had his bags, his gear and both his dragon glass and normal hammer with him. That and two shorter staffs that laid over his legs. 

“You thought you could get rid of me that easily? You are going after Cersei right?” he asked and she shook her head in disbelieve. 

“Yes,” she answered, she wasn't gonna encourage his behaviour. 

“Then you need someone who knows Kings Landing. And I have lived there most of my life,” he pointed out, seeming rather confident. 

“This could get us killed, you do know that,” she countered and he nodded.

“Then we die together, but if we survive I'm gonna ask for your hand again,” was he being sweet and cocky at the same time?

“If I say yes, don't expect me to behave like a Lady, because I have never been and will never be a Lady,” she might as well just see what he would say to this, because she still wanted to say yes, even if she needed to kill Cersei first. 

“Why would I expect you to behave like a lady?” he asked, clearly confused. He even managed to get his horse behind so she stopped for a few seconds so he could catch up. 

“Because you are gonna be a Lord...” now she sounded uncertain, what did he expect from her?

“I'm a bloody Blacksmith and you are a trained Killer. I expect us to be anything but traditional and I expect you to demand new weapons whenever you need them. And if we have kids I expect them to be able to throw knives before they can talk,” he explained and as he did so she could see it. Why could she see it. How did he manage to get her to think about kids? This was not good, yet she couldn't help but smile. 

And then her bonus dad, Clegane, finally had enough.

“Get a fucking room,” the old shit said as she exchanged a look with Gendry. 

“Lets just survive this first and then look at Storm's End after,” she said, still smiling and then he handed her the staffs he had carried till then.

“Might as well start to provide you with weapons now. Same design as the one you drew. Just with steel and not dragon glass as the blades,” he noted and she looked at it and smiled a little more, before she placed them in his bags.

“You made them so you hold them for now,” she noted and kicked her horse a little, walking ahead. 

She was happy, truly happy. She had decided to follow her head and then the fool had joined. Now she just had to keep a little distance between them on the road. She needed her head to be clear as she took out Cersei. But that didn't mean she wasn't gonna have a little fun on the road.


	3. Notice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short notice basically.

So, I have been writing this with the Gendry one and from now on I will simply add Arya's POV to his for some parts in the 8.5 and 8.6 chapters, since I don't have the brain to write 5.000+ words a week anymore. Gendry's story can be found under my works and probably if you look for the following title on this site: 

Gendry, bastard of Robert Baratheon (Slight AU)

Thank you all for reading the two chapters. I appreciate it so much! I hope you will like the new chapters on Gendry. His latest, posted today might not be canon, but it was fun to write so. Enjoy.


End file.
